Lap style articulation vs. slide guitar

[jodygc50]

Hi Forum Folks,

I've been listening to Thomas Oliver's Cocaine Blues that he plays lap style
  and 
Martin Harley's Trouble that he plays on his Weissenborn

and trying to get those down playing regular slide on my MMB28. 

They get an articulation that I can't come close to...should I expect not to get it?  Does lap style and that type of steel slide allow for that kind of expression? Any help is appreciated. Sorry...I couldn't figure out how to post the links.

I've tabbed out those 2 tunes and am happy to share..

thanks!

[jodygc50]

I guess the links came thru OK...

[Deleted]

Hi Jody,

First of all both these guys are very accomplished lap steel players--don't take that as disparaging your playing which I haven't heard and may be as good for all i know. However first thing is you don't have the weight therefore mass with a slide that a tone bar offers which allows a punchier vibrato and also it is not so easy to angle the slide either laterally or vertically the way Thomas does (2.40 shows this clearly) though by no means impossible. The tone bar in many cases has a pronounced lip at the ends which allows a more strident pull off too. It is also easier to cover certain strings and not others when you're looking directly down at the fretboard.(See 2.36) However both these fine tunes can be made to sound great played on a conventional slide guitar and you have the advantage of being able to use fingering which is not an option on a lap steel. 

[bod]

Lovely stuff! Can certainly see why you’re keen to learn them (but couldn’t do more than guess at answers to your questions...)

[jodygc50]

Hi Graeme,
I can hear that their skill levels have a lot to do with how good they sound. And can see how angling the tone bar allows for notes not easily played with a slide. I'm a fair slide player, but am always reaching for more than I can (currently) play...as in, not keeping with your Duke Ellington quote. 😀
Thanks for the encouraging words.

Jody

[Deleted]

Ha--my Duke Ellington quote is purely an aspiration for me! Glad I've encouraged you anyway.

[creolian]

I was only able to stream half the first tune as my internet connection this time of day chokes and stops sometimes...Olivier has a sweet methodical touch, and that vid is bookmarked for me to go back and study... thx. You might be interested in this, its a bit of a noisy challenge for me to even attempt. ;-)
Ive never seen behind the bar pulls done other than on youtube and as this player mentions is another way to expand limitations in playing an open tuned instrument.

My lap, slide and steel playing are at best elementary but Ive found the approach of slowly dissecting a tune into playable chunks works best. I can almost play a couple phrases without hitting a clinker or a sour note. Its a process that Ive given up on numerous times... Im back to it these days and am still frustrated more than not but im impatient by nature... this guy is a CnW player and these bends are common in country. I dont think Ive ever heard it done on a blues tune. Certainly not my rollin and tumblin stuff... A few astounding performances found by searching " lap steel behind the bar pulls"



And this one presented in english... a bit more relevant than the tuning above.

[jodygc50]

Good stuff Creolian, thanks for these. Brian Hayes sure knows his way around that lap steel. I occasionally will fret behind the slide, but haven't tried ( or thought of) bending like that. Yeah, Thomas Oliver is a great player. You might like a long interview he does on the Lessons with Troy Dobro podcast. Check that out...